Archives for June 2014

Only one thing can stop you from making money online after you’ve understood what to do and where to start.

This one thing is what makes you no different from someone who knows nothing about online business.

It’s called inaction.

I mean, when you learn and take no action. When you know what to do and still decide not to implement that knowledge.

You see, my friend, if you’re waiting for the “perfect” time to start your online business, that time may never come. And that’s the plain truth.

If you’re balking because you don’t want to lose your money or your time and effort, then you’re not fit for any business — either online or offline. Because business is for risk-takers only.

And if yours is the fear of making mistakes, know now that every successful online entrepreneur has made several mistakes before getting it right. No matter how much you learn before taking a plunge, you’ll make mistakes — few at least.

Enough said.

Now, let me share with you the story of Mr Ife Oluwatuyi, one of the loyal readers of this blog. How he learned, sought advice, took action, and made money within a two-month period.

Ife Oluwatuyi

How Ife began

A couple of months back, I created a thread on the WIP forum (which was still functioning back then). I requested that WIP readers leave the links to their blogs so I can review and give recommendations for improvement. Ife was among those who left the links to their blogs.

On checking out Ife’s blog, I discovered he was trying to target the “make money online” niche. But, rather than encourage him to forge ahead, I discouraged him. I told him to ditch that niche. And I gave him reasons why I felt he should.

At that time, Ife didn’t have much of practical experience making money online. He plunged into that niche because he felt he was a fast learner who could scour the web for valuable information to share with his readers. But I knew that wouldn’t work for him in the make money online niche.

The niche abounds with self-proclaimed “online millionaires” who parade themselves as experts just to deceive newbies. In reality, most of these “experts” are newbies themselves who have never made a dime online.

But people are now smarter than before. They want to see convincing proof that you’re really making money online before they listen to you. And there’s no way you can fake that without them finding out. That’s why I advised Ife to leave that niche and choose another.

Ife heeded my advice. After some brainstorming sessions, he decided to settle for the natural health niche. And without wasting time, he purchased a domain name (naturalhealthbag.com), installed WordPress, and started publishing valuable, detailed articles. And the articles are well-optimized for SEO keywords.

Ife didn’t stop there. Having learnt various traffic generation tips from this blog, he implemented those, too. He set up a social media page for the blog (the page now has about 1,200 likes). And he sends traffic to his blog posts using his Facebook page and social bookmarking sites.

As of June 2014, Ife’s blog attracts 200-300 visitors per day — from search engines and referrals from social media and other sites. Now, that’s awesome traffic for a 3-month old blog.

Screenshot: Ife’s traffic stats

How Ife made money

Ife registered with the Markethealth affiliate network. And in a subtle way, he promoted a breast enhancement product in a very detailed post on natural breast enhancement.

And just after two months, Ife made his first sale through that link, earning a commission of $90 (N14,400). Now, that’s cool cash from just one sale. Wondering how I knew? I actually helped Ife withdraw the funds to my own account because his Payoneer card was not ready at that time.

Actually, Ife went against my recommendation by monetizing his blog way too soon. But going against advice could bring great results at times. And that’s exactly what happened in Ife’s case. (The same might not work for you, though.)

In summary, here are the reasons behind Ife’s success:

He heeded my advice by ditching a niche where he’ll find it difficult to have an audience due to fierce competition and his lack of practical experience. Afterwards, he sat down to think of another niche to target — when he could easily have remained inactive for a long time.

He writes really long and detailed posts. His posts are well researched and they reflect the efforts of an expert. Check out his blog, and you’ll see for yourself.

He carefully optimizes his blog posts for SEO, which explains why a significant fraction of his traffic comes from search engines.

He blasts off his posts on social media and social bookmarking sites. And he gets decent traffic from those, too.

He started like a serious online entrepreneur. He didn’t try to “play safe” by choosing a mediocre blogging platform or free domain. He invested in a domain name and WordPress blog, and got the results he wanted.

He promoted a product on his blog as an affiliate, and he did that in a not-so-obvious manner. Not in a way that sends signals that he’s desperate to sell the product.

So, all Ife has to do to make more money is to be more consistent and to rinse and repeat what is working for him.

Bottom line

Don’t waste all your time reading and reading. Take action. The sooner you implement what you’ve learned, the earlier you’ll make money.

Stop asking questions like, “Is online business real?” or “Can I really make money online?” If you’re not sure whether to join the train, simply back off and think about something else to do. And if you think you’re in, strategize and act!

If all you’ve been waiting for is a wand that will help you make huge profits without effort, you’d better look beyond online business.

I think this post should be enough as a pep talk; I expect it to kick your butt and encourage you to take action. So, dismiss your fears and do the needful. I hope to share your success story, too. Very soon 🙂

Your take?

What are your thoughts like after reading this post? If you have any questions or something to add, leave a comment. I’ll reply as usual.

On Tuesday, June 17, 2014, PayPal finally made good its earlier promise to allow Nigerians use its service.

But, the development came with restrictions: you can only send money to other PayPal accounts (not those owned by fellow Nigerians, though) or make online payments for products and services. You cannot receive or withdraw funds.

So, if you need a PayPal account for receiving funds from abroad, I guess this development will leave you disappointed rather than impressed. (I once shared a smart trick for opening and verifying a PayPal account that will allow you to receive and withdraw funds. Click here to read the article.)

But you have every reason to be excited if you’re one of those who need the service for making online payments.

The restrictions notwithstanding, creating your own Nigerian PayPal account has its benefits. With it, you can pay online for products and services such as Fiverr gigs, ebooks, mobile apps, software packages, website and blog themes, WordPress plugins, mini importation products, and so on.

Opening and verifying your PayPal account is very simple. Just follow these steps:

Click “Open an account” under the “Individual” tab. (Don’t create a business account unless you have a strong reason to do that. You might be required to provide certain business documents that you may not have.)

Fill the form and click “Agree and create account”

On the security challenge page, enter the code displayed in the space provided and click “Continue”

Provide your credit card details as required on the next page, and click “Continue”

And that’s all. You’ve created your own PayPal account. If your you receive an error message regarding your credit card details, click “Continue to my account” and try to verify your account again using the “Get verified” link.

Below is a screenshot of my own verified PayPal account.

So, get online and register yours. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes (depending on your connection speed, though).

Any questions?

Last Monday (June 16, 2014), I stumbled upon the news that PayPal is finally coming to Nigeria. And I was excited. Why won’t I be?

For the past three years, I’ve been unable to receive payment directly from my foreign clients due to PayPal’s unavailability to Nigerians. (But thanks to Payoneer and other alternatives that came to my rescue.)

Because I just don’t take any news item until I read it from authoritative sources, I clicked the link to the original source. And I confirmed that it’s true.

But after reading down a couple of lines, my eyes caught the shocker that read:

Initially, PayPal is only offering “send money” services for consumers to pay for goods and services at PayPal-enabled merchant sites while safeguarding their financial details. This is free to consumers and covered by fees it charges merchants.

“We think we can give our sellers selling into this market a great deal of reassurance,” said Keeley, a former regional banking executive with Standard Chartered Plc and senior executive with payment card company Visa Inc.

PayPal does not yet cover peer-to-peer transactions, which allow consumers to send money to other consumers. It has not yet enabled local merchants in the new markets to receive payments, nor is it offering other forms of banking services, he said.

And I could say was, “Damn!”

So, PayPal was only going to offer a send-only solution after all. We can’t receive funds, and we can’t withdraw funds. All we can do is send money. Nothing more.

So, if that’s all PayPal could offer, I’m not impressed in the least. And I have no reason to start using their service yet, even though I’ve already registered and verified my account.

I’m sure I’m not alone in this. Many other Nigerian internet marketers and freelancers will share my line of thinking because they need PayPal for receiving and withdrawing funds — not sending funds.

However, I know that this development will be of great help to many other Nigerians — those who need PayPal for sending payments. You have every reason to be excited if all you need PayPal for is paying online for Fiverr gigs, themes, software packages, online subscriptions, ebooks, and other products.

Now, your turn…

How did you take the news of PayPal’s arrival in Nigeria? Were you excited? Or were you indifferent, like me? Share your take and reasons by leaving a comment.

Register with an affiliate program or network. Find fast-selling products to promote. Generate your affiliate link (that’s the link containing the product’s ID and your affiliate ID). And start marketing the product online.

Each time a customer clicks your link to buy the product you’re marketing, you get a commission from the sale. This commission could be a percentage of the sale or a fixed price. It’s all down to how your affiliate network sets it.

However, there are different ways affiliate marketers go about their stuff. I mean, they adopt different strategies to promote their products.

Some affiliate marketers use blogs to market their products. Some use paid advertising. Some use forum marketing. Some use social media. Some use article directories and revenue sharing sites. And some — the silly and desperate ones — use spamming and other unethical methods.

Of all these strategies, I favor the use of blogs. Because it works best.

Over past few years, I’ve stumbled upon hundreds of blogs monetized with affiliate marketing. And if I’m to classify them based on the model adopted, each will fall under one of three models:

The traditional model

The niche site model

The micro-niche site model

So, anyone making money by promoting affiliate products with a blog will have that blog based on one of these models.

Now, let’s discuss what each model entails.

The traditional model

This involves starting a blog from scratch without necessarily defining the monetization methods to be implemented.

Then after the blog has built a huge followership and has started generating huge traffic, you adopt affiliate marketing as one of multiple monetization options.

Pro bloggers like Pat Flynn, Darren Rowse, Tom Ewer, John Chow, and many others have achieved great success with this method. After they’ve built a large base of subscribers and loyal readers, they generate huge profits from affiliate marketing by simply recommending and promoting products that they think will be of help to their readers.

This model works best for experts — those who have spent years building their blogs and giving out volumes of valuable information to their readers. And they generate huge profits because their readers have come to trust them, and so would buy anything they recommend. But that kind of trust and traffic takes time to build. Years!

The niche site model

This involves starting a blog on a streamlined topic.

For example, narrowing down on the small business niche, you can start a blog on small business marketing, small business insurance, small business planning, and so on.

Similarly, you can set up a streamlined blog within the health niche that discusses only diabetes, hypertension, health insurance, and so on.

You get it? I’ll assume you do.

Then you’ll share lots of valuable information around that narrow topic you’re focusing on. And once the blog starts generating a sizable amount of traffic, you’ll slap up your affiliate links.

Because niches sites are usually well optimized for the topics they’re focused on, search engines tend to rank them high, and so they achieve success faster.

And trust is not an issue for most readers or niche sites, even if the author is unknown. They believe whoever who could have churned out that huge volume of information on such a focused topic couldn’t be less than an expert. With this in their minds, they buy recommended products without hesitation.

The micro-niche site model

This is even more streamlined than the niche site model. And while niche blogs can be monetized with Adsense and other methods, micro-niche sites are usually created solely for the purpose of affiliate marketing.

A micro-niche site is built around only one or few products.

For example, if you found out that a stretch mark cream called Gravidax (fiction) is selling like wild online, you can set up a micro niche blog for marketing this product alone. In that case, you’ll start by registering a domain such as gravidaxreviews.com, gravidaxstretchmarkcream.com, buygravidaxonline.com, and so on.

Similarly, you can choose to market more than one product, but few. Maybe you just found out during your research that “best stretch mark creams” is a very lucrative keyphrase. You can register a domain such as beststretchmarkcreams.com or stretchmarkcreamreviews.com and start a micro-niche blog that markets Gravidax and a few other fast-selling stretch mark creams.

Micro niche sites are very easy to create because they contain very few posts (usually less than 10). And, like niche sites, they tend to rank very highly in search engines for the keywords they’re optimized for.

So, all you need to start making money with a micro niche site promoting Gravidax is to write a detailed and helpful review of the product. Explain how it’s used. List and discuss its ingredients. Explain how it works to bring about the expected effects. Explain its possible side effects. Include testimonials from those who have used the product. And encourage the reader to buy through your link.

And here, too, trust is not an issue for readers. Detailed posts send signals that the author knows virtually everything about that product, and whatever he or she says about it could be trusted.

I know professional affiliate marketers who are making thousands of dollars monthly from their micro-niche blogs. Some of them have as much as 50 micro-niche blogs covering various products. The total monthly income generated by all these blogs could be more than amazing!

And now, my story…

I first came across the concept of “micro niche sites” sometimes in 2012 while scouring the web for information on how to make money online.

I discovered that many online marketers are actually making money from micro niche sites and decided to give it a shot.

In early 2013, I registered with MarketHealth, an affiliate network that sells natural health products. I love this network because it pays huge commissions — usually 50% — on its products, and it offers an easy payment solution for Nigerians.

I browsed through the over two hundred products available on MarketHealth and chose to promote Miracet, a product that helps break the habit of cigarette smoking. I knew the quit smoking market is very lucrative. And that’s why I chose to market this product.

I did keyword research and came up with a list of keyphrases that people were using to find information about Miracet. And I registered the domain, miracet-reviews.com.

Since WordPress is my preferred blogging platform, I installed WordPress for the new micro-niche blog and installed the relevant plugins.

I published two articles on the blog: A very detailed review article on Miracet and a much shorter supporting article. To date, I’ve not added a third article.

Even though I intended to experiment with the whole process, the results started coming much earlier than I expected. Within a few weeks, my long review post was ranking among Google’s top three results for most keyphrases containing the word “Miracet.”

And to my surprise, I got my first sales notification from MarketHealth on July 23, 2013 — just 2 months after starting the micro-niche blog. Someone had bought the product through my affiliate link. And I earned $25 from that sale alone.

I was excited. I couldn’t imagine making money so early from a strategy I just wanted to experiment with.

And that was the beginning.

Here is a screenshot showing my earnings so far from Miracet alone.

My Miracet earnings

As you can see from the screenshot, I earned commissions (either $25 — $100) every month from July 2013 to October 2013. No sales came afterwards until January 2014. I also earned commissions in February and March 2013, after which I’ve made no sales to date.

In all, I’ve earned $374 (about N60,000) from Miracet, and that long review article attracted all the traffic that resulted in the sales (according to my Google Analytics reports).

So, since March 2014, I’ve not earned any commissions from Miracet. But I’m sure the gate of sales will soon open again — because my blog’s ranking in Google hasn’t dropped.

Though Miracet has been “dormant” for the past three months, I made $125 in May 2014 as affiliate commissions from another product I market on this very blog (see the screenshot below).

Affiliate commission for May

So, even if one product isn’t selling at a time, another will make up for that. And that’s the essence of marketing multiple products — just as most online marketing gurus do.

And just so you know, the micro-niche site model is a set-it-and-forget-it thing. I never did anything to the blog since the time I published the articles except for when I updated the WordPress version and the plugins. So, the task of setting up the blog and writing the two articles was the only effort I put in.

Why I’m not earning much from affiliate marketing

If one micro-niche blog that has just two articles can fetch me about N4,000 to N8,000 per month, you can imagine how much I’d earn monthly if I had 20 or 50 such sites like some badass affiliate marketers who are earning a full time living from what they do.

But I’m always too busy to make that happen. Clients’ writing assignments. Medicine and surgery. Family. And other commitments.

My tight schedule notwithstanding, I’m now working on a new blog that I set up solely for reviewing natural health products. I’ll let you know how things pan out. Trust me.

Those are the online business models I’ve been teaching on this blog since its launch. I know so much about them. And I’m making money from all of them.

However, I just recently came to terms with the fact that mini importation business is an online business, too — though some additional offline effort is usually required.

Even at that, I won’t personally discuss mini importation on this blog because it’s not my forte. I don’t know much about it, and I’ve never given it a shot, let alone making money from it.

However, I recently interviewed a good “e-friend” of mine, Mr. Akaahan Terungwa. He knows a lot about the mini importation business, and he earns a huge monthly income from it, too. So, he’s really a “specialist” in it.

Mr Akaahan Terungwa

In this interview, Mr Terungwa shares the basics of the mini importation business and tips on how to quickly succeed at it. Though the interview isn’t a comprehensive tutorial on mini importation, you’ll learn enough to help you decide whether to take a plunge or not.

Enjoy the interview.

It is my pleasure to feature you on this blog, Web Income Plus.

My honest pleasure, Abass.

Kindly tell us your name and some brief information about your background.

I’ve got an unimpressive and simple name: Akaahan Terungwa. I got fascinated about living the dot com lifestyle (earning a full time living online) around 2008. Between that time and 2012, I ran a blogspot account, which I updated only when I heard that a blogger was making millions. However, the real show started towards the end of 2012/early 2013 when my online activities began to pay.

When did you start online business, and which online business(es) are you majorly into?

I started online business (proper) in 2012 and enjoy money from various online ventures. However, if you force me to choose (as you have), then, it’s definitely going to be The Mini Importation Business.

The ROI (Return on Investment) is simply high and at times, best left to the imagination. A product bought online either from China or the U.S. for just $100 (about N16,000) could be sold for as high as N 40,000 back here in Nigeria…can you imagine?

Are you making enough money from this mini importation business as you always desired?

This business puts a roof over my head and feeds my family. While there is still room for expansion, I make in a month what the average graduate makes in a whole year!

How exactly are you making money from this business?

The money spinning models are many and varied. I retail online via avenues like Nairaland, Facebook and my primary blogs. I sell offline by means of the numerous posters and GSM phone number data bases of potential customers I have. I supply to corporate bodies (mostly in cases of deferred payment — and for higher retail price too). And most traders in the local markets around me patronize me.

What has been your biggest challenge so far as far as mini importation is concerned?

Nothing that serious.

The exchange rate fluctuates, sometimes to the disadvantage of those of us that inhabit the global South.

Having a reliable credit/debit card that would be accepted at all times.

Until recently, taking advantage of the cheap offers available on eBay (because of the lack of a Paypal account).

Aside mini importation, in what other ways do you make money online?

There are many other ways, Abass. However, I’ll limit myself to the three I’m comfortable sharing.

My primary blog accepts ads and sponsored posts. While these have been infrequent and far between, they’re always worth the wait when they come.

I am a freelance writer for a number of companies. These various jobs ensure I always have a ready check every 15 days.

I run a reviews site where I capitalize on the power of Amazon to garner affiliate earnings.

Do you have a blog?

Of course, I do — two which I’ll share here immediately.

What do you blog about?

My primary blog, www.notopoverty.com focuses on blogging, tips and the art of getting better. Recently however, I launched www.makemoneyonlinenigerians.com which lives up to its name by teaching Nigerians the art (and science) of making money online in a country like Nigeria.

What are your plans for the future as far as your mini importation and other online businesses are concerned?

That’s one thing I don’t share. I don’t share that bit of info because, as a business, all information relating to expansion and future plans are strictly classified. I wonder if you understand?

Do you plan to leave this mini importation thing for other businesses?

For the time being, let’s just say I’m enjoying every bit of it. However, I’m open to better options.

Based on your experience, in brief sentences, kindly walk us through the whole process of starting a mini importation business and making huge profits from it. In other words, briefly explain the steps involved.

Nothing complicated:

Get a reliable credit/debit card

Pinpoint a reliable store (not all online stores are honest and reliable)

My business is self-sustaining. This is because I have modeled it so. My wife handles the orders once I give her a call (upon payment confirmation). This is because, I may be in Abuja today and the next day, I’ll be heading to Lagos!

What are those factors that increase one’s chances of success in the mini importation business?

Guts — and plenty of it.

Understanding of the market dynamics.

Keeping an eye for especially high ROI products that also pass the quality standard.

Now, what are the challenges one would most likely face as a mini importation entrepreneur?

Getting a reliable, cheap and efficient payment method.

Getting an honest and fast shipping company (if you are serious, forget NIPOST)

Getting the world to know what you do.

What are those things one needs to have known before venturing into this business?

Nothing much, Abass. Just an average IQ and guts (that make your peers wonder if you are nuts).

Now, as you know, this blog is aimed at helping Nigerians discover how to make money online. Kindly give your pieces of advice and words of motivation to those who are aiming to start mini importation — professionally.

I have Just three pieces of advice:

Buy and sell only quality stuff (that are highly in demand – or easy to stimulate demand from).

Nigerians are known to be great frauds…always prove to be an exception: ship (and on time) every bit of item prepaid for by your customers.

Keep an eye on the dollar. When it fluctuates (to the favor of Nigeria and Nigerians) — is the best time to place orders.

If there is any secret or golden advice you’d give a newbie whose just planning to take a plunge, what would that advice be?

There is really no golden advice here. If you keep your eye on the aforementioned three, you’ll do just fine.

Are there other valuable pieces of information you would like to share with us about mini importation?

Yes. This stuff is completely tax free…can you imagine? No import tax, no sales tax! The money is all yours in both an amazingly simple and legally righteous way!

After checking through the WebIncomePlus.com, what do you have to say? Do you have comments, suggestions, corrections, or something else for us?

Everything’s on course except one thing: the posts are infrequent and far between. That’s not a great idea considering the great service this blog is offering Nigerians. What do you think?

Thank you very much for your time, and for your willingness to help others succeed.

Now, your turn…

What do you think about the interview? Do you have any objections, contributions, or questions? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.